Hedge bindweed Calystegia sepium
The local field hedges are full of bindweed along with a tangled variety of briar roses, grasses, ivies and seed heads.
This particular flower had a lovely Oedemera nobilis beetle which proved irresistible!
Original watercolour 18 cm x 13 cm
Cards available
Oncidium orchid
Needing something interesting to paint we visited a Chelsea award winning specialist orchid nursery close to our home. I spent a long time looking round until I finally spied a tall stem with beautiful dancing flowers advancing up to the topmost bud. I did have doubts that I could do it justice but bought it regardless.
Installing it at home I studied it more closely, “well let’s give it a go”! There were fourteen beautiful flowers but for the composition I decided to paint just a few.The pseudo bulbs and leaves, were depicted in graphite, drawn at half life size.
Original watercolour in private collection
Image size 40 cm x 30 cm
Limited edition of 25 fine art Giclée prints available
Cards available
Hellebore orientalis:
Hellebores are are such a welcome sight when their buds start appearing soon after Christmas. As the flowers open they provide a valuable source of nectar for early flying bees. There are many hellebores in my garden, all with slight colour variations. A joy to paint!
Watercolour on 308gsm archival paper
Image size 40 cm x 30 cm
Limited edition of 25 fine art Giclée prints available
Magnolias are believed to be one of the oldest genera of flowering plants. Fossil remains were found in Idaho in 1971 that contained 2-3 species of magnolia thought to be 17-20 million years old.
Ref: Magnolias in Art and Cultivatin by Barabara Oozeerally, Jim Gardiner, Stephen A. Spongberg.
This seedpod was an interesting subject to paint, with the intense colour of the fruits, the detail of the pods and the subtle shades of the autumn leaves.
Original watercolour in private collection
Image size 33cm x 27cm
Limited edition of 25 fine art Giclée prints available
From a shady, wild area in my garden
Original watercolour
Image size 40cm x 30cm
We have a ‘keep fit’ walk which runs parallel to the coast, with lots of upward steps, hence the fitness element. It forms part of the South West Coast Path. After a particularly wet spring one year large numbers of spectacular Acanthus mollis appeared clothing the downward slope to the sea.
I love architectural plants so could not resist cutting a carefully selected stem. The delicate colours, combined with spiky sepals and the white folded petals, were a joy to portray. The following spring a bud was added to complete the painting
Original watercolour in private collection
Image size 40 cm x 30 cm
Limited edition fine art Giclée prints available – see Prints/ cards
This beautiful umbellifer with its lime green flowers, leaves and tall stately stems graces the south Devon lanes where I live. Emerging in late winter/early spring it quickly grows to around 1.5 meters in height.
Of Mediterranean origin, “the parsley of Alexandria” is thought to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans as an all purpose food source: all parts of the plant are edible, including the seeds which can be ground into a spice.
Alexanders has since been superseded by celery.
Diligent searching finally rewarded me with a perfect specimen including beautiful translucent spathes where the stems branched. The monochrome nature of the plant also appealed to me.
Original watercolour in private collection
Image size 30cm x 32cm
Limited edition of 25 fine art Giclée prints available
Slipper orchid Paphiopedilum ‘Freckles’
Once again needing a plant to paint we spent a happy hour at Burnham Orchid Nursery, otherwise known as Orchid Paradise – a name it lives up to!
I came away with a slipper orchid in full flower. Later a second flower bud appeared which enabled me to record the bud as it gradually opened to reveal the beautiful ‘slipper’
Original watercolour
Image size 28cm x 23cm
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